The secrecy of Marin's salt sales was very good, and the salt base was originally in the middle of nowhere. Later, he simply moved to Cape Breton Island in the Americas. As a result, most people don't know the origin of the brine salt in Marin's hand.

Generally speaking, refined salt, which is not bitter in taste and snow-white in color, often comes from salt mines. The quality of mineral salt varies greatly, with the worst bitter and poisonous salts coming from salt mines, but at the same time, the best salts are also from salt mines. As for sea salt, before the promotion of debrine technology, it has always been a medium coarse salt.

In fact, until now, the main people who know that Marlin sells salt in large quantities are a few of Marin's big customers. For example, John II, Duke of Cleaver, Zygmunt I, and Grand Master Philip of Teuton, John II's brother...... Because, these people are all agents of Marlin's dehalogen refined salt.

However, even these agents are not very clear about the source of Marlin's dehalogenated refined salts. At first, they guessed that Marin boiled salt, after all, Marin's fiefdom was by the sea. However, after tasting the taste of brine salt, it is not like ordinary sea salt...... So, they're also speculating whether Marin has a prime salt mine, or a mysterious supplier......

As for the dehalogen technology, Marin has always kept it secret, and no one will let anyone know. However, if someone with a heart notices and arranges spy infiltration, it is inevitable. So, Marin also needs a cover to divert the attention of others. Just like Marin did when he set up a large whisky distillery in Newcastle, diverting everyone's attention.

Newcastle, on the other hand, is a traditional base for boiling salt because of its abundance of coal and its proximity to the sea. It's a great way to grab everyone's attention.

However, according to Mason Sr.'s report, most of the salt merchants in Newcastle had fled to the south because of the war. After all, Newcastle is too close to Scotland. This has caused a depression in the local salt boiling industry, and only a small number of small retail investors are left, who are still insisting on boiling salt. Old Mason knew very well the huge profits of the salt business, and in England, maybe there was nothing to salt, but it could be shipped to Germany, and that was a lot of money. If it is transported to the Baltic Sea region, it can be even more profitable.

At the beginning, Marin asked John II, Duke of Cleaver, to act as his agent for the de-brine refined salt, and he made a lot of money. How could Mason Sr., as Prime Minister, not know this? It's just that John II didn't tell Old Mason that the refined salt was provided by Marin. After all, this lucrative business is monopolized by the Lamarck family, where John II belongs, and even Prime Minister Mason Sr. cannot interfere.

Although he failed to intervene, but the huge profits in it, Old Mason was clear. So, when he saw some small local retail farmers in Newcastle setting up a cauldron by the sea to boil salt from coals, he immediately realised the profits. And after inspecting the price of coal, after calculating, old Mason was taken aback - Nima, what a huge profit, right? So, he immediately made a report and applied to boil salt locally. You must know that as the prime minister, if the local salt boiling industry develops, he can make money by intervening casually......

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However, while Marin approved Mason Sr.'s request to boil salt in coal by the sea, he did not leave Mason Sr. in charge of the matter alone. Otherwise, this thing will definitely be overwhelmed.

Therefore, Marin decided to have Kohler send a few calculated spies to Newcastle in the name of assistance, in fact, to monitor Mason Sr.'s management of Newcastle's salt industry to prevent Mason Sr. from eating too fat.

Marin has no objection to his subordinates taking some benefits, but if they make too much, Marin will not be happy. Therefore, for each profiteering industry, Marin will arrange spies to supervise it to avoid getting out of control.

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Moreover, according to this incident, Ma Lin suddenly thought of the salt and iron franchise in ancient China......

The policy of salt and iron monopoly, how to say, is a great thing for the imperial court, and it can greatly increase taxes. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, the annual salt tax was as high as one million taels of silver, and the highest annual rate reached 2.5 million taels of silver, which was almost comparable to Tian Fu.

In fact, this was the result of the serious corruption of the civil service system in the Ming Dynasty. The price of salt in the Ming Dynasty was as high as 300 wen a catty, but in fact, the imperial court only collected taxes of three or four yuan of silver (one coin is equivalent to 100 wen) per citation (300 catties), which was equivalent to 2 wen per catty of salt. The price of salt is as high as 300 ...... In other words, the huge price difference in the middle was divided by the bureaucracy...... It is no wonder that the Ming court was poor, while the officials were rich to death......

In contrast, the Song Dynasty had a very high tax on salt, reaching 30 wen per catty (more than 6 wen in the Qing Dynasty), but the price of salt was 50 wen per catty. That is, in the intermediate process, officials and businessmen did not profit much. Unlike the Ming Dynasty, the salt monopoly was sold, and the benefits were taken by the bureaucrats, and the imperial court only received 2 cents per catty of salt, which was simply a ......

Even the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which claimed to hand over salt to the private sector, also collected a tax of more than 6 wen per catty, which was three times that of the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty had controlled the salt tax well, even if the price of the salt tax in the Qing Dynasty was used, there would be no shortage of money at all. It can be said that this dynasty was eaten down by the bureaucracy......

You must know that the salt tax in the Qing Dynasty was 6 wen per catty, and the salt price was more than 20 wen, but you can look at the history of Yangzhou salt merchants, and the paralyzed people have a wealth of millions of taels of big salt merchants, and the richest ones have a net worth of up to 10 million taels.

This is not a monopoly of the national super salt merchants, just Yangzhou salt merchants. It can be seen that the salt industry is so profitable.

Even in the later New China Era, the official government also ran salt for a long time, and it was not until before Marin crossed that a small amount was released. The annual turnover of China Salt Company reaches tens of billions, but I don't know how much tax it pays every year. After all, such a monopoly group also has a lot of related households.

Just like a girl in the petrochemical industry who Ma Lin knew in later generations once said, don't look at the annual turnover of petrochemical is close to 300 billion US dollars, but there are as many as 810,000 employees in petrochemical, and everyone starts with more than 100,000 yuan per year (the regular salary is only 35,000 yuan, and it is very shabby for you to check the salary list, but the bonus is much higher than the salary, and basically everyone earns more than 100,000 yuan a year, as long as they are regular workers). And that's just normal income, not counting some people's grey income...... So, don't think that petrochemical is a pig that can make money as a boss, and most of the money earned is used to fill the pit. Moreover, those 810,000 employees are still active, not including those who have retired for decades......

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Marin knew that the salt monopoly system might be detrimental to the common people, but it was beneficial to the rulers themselves. Therefore, he also decided to engage in a salt monopoly. However, he does not plan to recruit too many idlers in the company, nor does he plan to give employees high bonuses. Because, if you spend money on these idlers, you will get less. Of course, it's not about taking the money yourself. After all, money is no longer an issue for Marin. However, this money is all fiscal revenue, which can be used to build infrastructure and support the army. In short, it's much better than raising idlers.

Therefore, after the approval of the old Mason, Marin signed another document ordering the formation of the North Sea Salt Company to manage the production and sale of salt in the territory of Marin, such as the North Sea State and Northumberland. As for the current retail investors in Newcastle who cook salt, Marin decided to learn from the way PetroChina and Sinopec dealt with those retail gas stations in the future - the acquisition ......

Marlin will offer a more reasonable price, buy the equipment of the salt cooks, and even give a high price. However, from then on, they were no longer allowed to boil salt and sell it.

And how to control those who boil salt in the future to secretly cook salt? Marin also had his own big move - he also ordered the formation of the Beihai Coal Company and the implementation of a coal monopoly system. Without the supply of coal, these retail investors cannot afford to make waves. And the cost of chopping wood to cook salt is not low, and it is unlucky to be caught......

In addition, for the coal mines in Newcastle, Marin also implemented a buyout system, buying all the ownership of the coal mines. After that, the coal was supplied by the family. Moreover, it is forbidden to import coal from outside the country (Newcastle is not the only country in the UK). In this way, through the monopoly of salt and coal, Marin can firmly grasp a very profitable industrial chain in his own hands......

As for the question of whether the coal monopoly is profitable, Marin is not worried. Because, he has a killer weapon in his hand - honeycomb coal technology......

All Chinese people who have experienced the 20th century have seen the era when urban residents burned honeycomb coal stoves. Before the era of coal and natural gas, urban dwellers in China, including many rural residents, preferred to burn honeycomb coal stoves. This application alone can make coal mines profitable, and there is no need to worry about coal sales.

If it weren't for the fear of irritating John II, Duke of Cleaver, Marin would have planned to come up with honeycomb coal technology immediately. After all, you just changed the territory of the Ruhr area with someone on the front foot, and you launched the honeycomb coal technology on the back foot, is it not clear that you are a pit man? Therefore, Marin plans to come up with honeycomb coal technology in a few years. Otherwise, John II would have been......

Moreover, because there is no honeycomb coal technology, and even Europe does not even have the technology to shake briquettes, the value of coal mines is not valued. Marin can take the opportunity to buy all the coal mines at a low price in the name of the Beihai Coal Company, and when the honeycomb coal technology comes out, he can make money lying down with an exclusive monopoly......

Ma Lin estimated that in the future, relying solely on the Beihai Salt Industry Company and the Beihai Coal Company, the annual profits produced by the two enterprises, as long as they do not support idlers, can support the finances of the Beihai State and feed tens of thousands of troops......